


Stretch Your Legs Out

by lovelyliterati



Series: You Kill Me for the Better (Klance AU Month 2019) [3]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Aquariums, Big Brother Shiro (Voltron), Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Gay Keith (Voltron), Human Keith (Voltron), Keith/Lance (Voltron) Angst, Little Mermaid Elements, M/M, POV Keith (Voltron), Socially Awkward Keith (Voltron), mermaid lance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-04
Updated: 2019-02-04
Packaged: 2019-10-22 02:20:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,828
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17654192
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lovelyliterati/pseuds/lovelyliterati
Summary: Klance AU Month Day 3 / Mermaid AUIt’s not even the second week of Keith’s job at the aquarium, and his boss is already giving him the responsibility of taking care of a mythical creature. A mythical creature, he might add, that he didn’t know existed in reality until a month ago.In which Lance is a mermaid put in Keith's care after he's taken captive by the American government. Maybe he's finally found his way out.





	Stretch Your Legs Out

**Author's Note:**

> Whew! I'm shook by the feedback I'm already getting on this series of AUs I'm doing! :) Thank you everyone. 
> 
> I probably won't be doing tomorrow's or Tuesday's prompts. I want to work on my longer Klance celeb AU, in which Shiro is a famous actor, Lance is his adoring fan, and Keith is Shiro's social media manager. I have about 15k written so far but I want to write more before I post so I can keep a decent schedule!!
> 
> Thank u all again tho I appreciate u! 
> 
> Also y'all.. this is why I write mainly contemporary. I was reading this to my sister and she kept asking "why" "how" I was like…listen im trying to keep these under 2k lol so please ignore plot holes and assume theres a decent reason for things

It’s not even the second week of Keith’s job at the aquarium, and his boss is already giving him the responsibility of taking care of a mythical creature. A mythical creature, he might add, that he didn’t know existed in reality until a month ago.

That’s what adulting is now, huh? Just rolling with the punches?

He stares into the blue-lit tank, watching as the mermaid swims through schools of tropical fish that part in its presence. It spins in the water, a smile on its face, and its tail and torso both glitter under the light of the tank. 

A month ago, the government released a statement that they’d discovered this creature in the Pacific Ocean almost three years prior. They’d done the necessary tests, poking and prodding, and had decided to release it to an aquarium for public viewing.

Keith didn’t think for a second that one of the aquariums he applied to would be the one. But he should have guessed it – the Georgia Aquarium is the biggest in the world. It’s frequented regularly by government agencies for inspections. The president and whoever else know those in charge here are perfectly qualified to handle this.

But Keith isn’t. He never studied _mermaids_ in college. 

Before Keith can process it, the mermaid notices him and swims closer to the glass. Its eyes wide, it tilts its head at him. Its mop of brown hair floats away from its face, revealing cheeks littered with the same sparkly blue scales as its tail.

Keith tilts his own head in response. He thinks it’s a boy, but he can’t be sure. Do mermaids use the same pronouns and identifiers as humans? Is this creature an it, a them, a he, a she? 

He shakes his head, and upon seeing the mermaid grin at him, turns on his heel. That’s enough of that.

He enters the sleek husbandry commissary, where they keep food to be prepared for all 100,000 fish in the aquarium. Once he finds the bucket of krill, he props it up on his shoulder and takes a deep breath to prepare himself for this. 

A mermaid can’t possibly speak English, can it? He thinks to himself as he walks up the stairs and unlocks the employee entrance to the tank. It’s not going to _talk_ to him.

But he’s barely poured any krill onto the gantry crane’s platform before he’s proven wrong. The mermaid swims to the top, resting its arms on the edge, and frowns at Keith.

“You got any cheeseburgers, man?” It asks, water dripping from its brunette hair and down its face as it talks. “I’ve been eating that crap for the last three years.”

Keith jumps back, stunned. “I-I—”

“The name’s Lance,” they hold their hand out, but Keith stays where he is, bucket of krill in his hands. Lance looks away, setting their arm back down. “You, my friend, are the softest-looking caretaker I’ve seen since they’ve taken me into captivity.”

“S-soft?” Keith gulps.

“Kind, compassionate, gentle,” Lance waves their hand around. “My sister rubbed off on me. She calls everyone soft.”

“But I—”

“I think it’s your mullet. None of the scientists had such weird hair.”

Finally, Keith sets the bucket on the tile and squats down to meet eyes with Lance. Lance lifts an eyebrow at him tauntingly. “I have-have a lot of questions,” Keith stammers.

“Go on.”

“Starting with how you,” he clears his throat. “Starting with how you breathe underwater if your top half is human.”

Lance leans their head to the side, revealing the slits in their neck. “Gills,” they say, flashing the whitest smile Keith has ever seen. He can’t help but wonder if mermaids have to brush their teeth. “The lungs only function when I come up for air.”

Keith nods, sitting down and criss-crossing his legs. He has to feed other fish, but he’s prepared to be here until the end of his shift.

“So, I take it that’s a no on the cheeseburgers?” Lance asks.

“Not until you answer my questions.”

 

“You wouldn’t believe it, Shiro!” Keith tells his brother that weekend, unpacking their Wendy’s bag for their weekly Sunday lunch. He sets aside three cheeseburgers to take to Lance tomorrow. “He’s a mermaid. A real mermaid. And he’s nothing like how you read in books.”

He’s had several conversations with Lance now, and once Lance started referring to his sisters Veronica and Rachel as she, he asked him his pronouns. He is, in fact, a he. 

“Does that mean he’s not going to kill you?” Shiro asks, popping a fry in his mouth. “Or is he completely ugly and deadly with fangs and a bloodlust stronger than a siren’s?”

“I don’t think he’s going to kill me,” Keith says. “He’s just—he’s just like you or me. He’s just a human with a tail, it seems.”

“So, he’s a MILF.”

Keith’s eyebrows weave together. “A what?”

“A MILF,” Shiro chuckles to himself at his joke. “Mermaid you’d like to friend. Or fuck, since he’s apparently a boy. How would that even work?”

“Uh, yeah I guess.” Keith stops, catching himself. “I mean, the friend one. He’s interesting to talk to, obviously.”

Keith can’t deny that over the last few days, he’s found Lance more and more beautiful. He’s a _mythical creature_ , for God’s sake. Of course he’s beautiful, with his glittering skin and long lashes. He’s more well-spoken than expected, too – Keith hasn’t asked him if he can sing yet.

“But you’d never guess this,” he quickly changes the subject. “He can form legs outside of the water. He’s like a frog. Well, not really. I mean, he can live on land and in—”

“So, why do they keep him in the tank?” Shiro cuts him off to ask. Keith’s shoulders slump.

“They never let him out. I guess they just…assumed.”

Shiro’s entire face perks up. He’s been against this whole mermaid in captivity thing since the announcement was made. ‘It’s like keeping a human in a cage, isn’t it?’ he’d asked Keith on the phone that night. ‘Whatever it is…it’s done nothing wrong.’

“You should let him out,” he says.

 

It takes weeks of Shiro’s begging and conversations with Lance for Keith to get the nerve. And even today, as he went into work, he wasn’t sure he’d really do it.

But now, as he lies on the edge of the tank beside Lance’s wet, propped up arms, he feels the fire of determination in him. He wouldn’t have ever felt it if the day Lance was discovered didn’t come up in conversation.

“I was with my niece and nephew – Veronica’s kids,” Lance says casually, chomping down on his burger. “We were playing some dumb game. Tag, I think.”

And then he sighs. Keith turns his head to look at him, readjusting his hands on his stomach. Lance has finished his burger, and his eyes are closed.

“And then one of those – what do you guys call them? That Beatles song.”

“Submarine?” 

“Yeah, that,” Lance says. “It came down and I rushed them to hide, but I…I didn’t get to hide in time.

“I’ve seen them before, but usually I’m with my friends or elders, and we’re usually in darker areas. This is the first time I was an elder in the situation, and I…well, I messed up, but I’m thankful every day that it was me and not them.”

“Lance…” Keith sits up, resting a hand on Lance’s. It’s the first time they’ve touched, and he pulls back for a millisecond, surprised by how warm he is.

Lance opens his eyes, long eyelashes fluttering and revealing ice-blue irises. “I just miss them, you know? I miss my family. I hope they don’t blame themselves.”

“You said you’re able to form legs if on land?” Keith asks. He can feel his face heat up. What an abrupt way to change the subject.

Lance’s features soften, and he pouts as he runs his finger across the edge of the tank where water has pooled up. The day they met, he called Keith soft, but he’s the soft one. All glittery and tender.

“Yeah,” he mumbles.

“How long has it been?”

Lance shrugs. “Dunno. Over three years, at least. It’s a lot easier to get on land with this tail when there’s a beach.”

Keith jumps up, moving to lock the door to the tank. It’s not like Lance couldn’t unlock it himself, but he hopes his respect for Keith will keep him from escaping. For now.  
This is happening. He’s really going to do this.

“I want to let you walk, just along the walkway here, so you can—” Keith almost snorts to himself. “—stretch your legs out, or whatever.”

Lance brightens. “What?”

“C’mon,” Keith leans down, holding his arms out to Lance. Lance takes his hands hesitantly, and Keith wraps his arms around him to pull him out of the water with a newfound, determined strength.

The transformation is nothing short of magic. The color changes first, then the form, and then his bottom half separates into two working legs. The only remnants of his tail are a few smatterings of scales on his legs and shiny blue-painted toenails. 

He stumbles a bit at first but regains his balance quickly. It’s as if he’d just walked yesterday, not three years ago. Keith keeps his arm around him anyway. He tries to ignore the fact that Lance is now stark naked. 

Lance squeals. “I’ve missed this so much,” he says, turning to Keith as they shuffle across the narrow walkway beside the tank. He sighs wistfully. “Oh, I wish I could go out and eat at Red Lobster or see a movie again. Humans make the best films.”

“Yeah?” Keith asks. “Like what?” 

“ _Dirty Dancing,_ ” Lance says, then he points at him. “But don’t ask me to dance.”

Keith laughs, keeping his eyes trained forward. Lance dancing right now would be…awkward, to say the least. “Okay, I won’t.”

“How many _Fast and Furious_ movies have I missed?”

“Couldn’t tell ya.”

Lance sighs, and Keith can feel his eyes on him. He doesn’t want to look, but he forces himself to turn and sees the saddest face staring back at him. “I miss everything, Keith,” Lance says softly. “It’s been the worst three years of my life.” 

“I know,” Keith says just as softly. “You’re going to get out of here soon. I promise.” 

Lance leans in and places a kiss on Keith’s cheek. His lips are as warm as his hand. “See?” He says. “I told you. Soft, inside and out.”

Keith can feel himself blush. He looks away, staring down at the tile floor.

He can’t figure out if he wants to help Lance out of here to get him back to his home or to keep him for himself, away from all of this. Either way, he’s decided, he’s going to help him escape.


End file.
